Grandfathering and Adolescent Adjustment Difficulties and Pro-social Behaviour Among Israeli Jewish and Arab Adolescents

This chapter examines adolescents’ reports on their relationships with their grandfathers and the contribution of these relationships to their adjustment, based on a survey conducted among approximately 2750 Israeli Jewish and Arab adolescents, aged 12–17. Most of the analyses focused on the 736 adolescents identifying their grandfathers as their closest grandparents. The findings show that grandfathers are heavily involved in the lives of adolescents in Israel and that adolescents see them as close and significant figures in their lives. Adolescent gender, lineage of grandfather, and culture are associated with the adolescent–grandfather relationship. In addition, significant links were found between adolescents’ closeness to their closest grandfathers and reduced adjustment difficulties and increased pro-social behaviour, as well as between grandfather involvement and pro-social behaviour.